Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 11, 2025 ...

Don,
  I have a 99 U270 with the same battery setup. I replaced both of them (AGM) for $771.00. As far as the inverter, mine is a 20. I think it was the standard on for that year. Maybe someone else knows some more info.

Regards, Mark

BTW - if you're going to have recording equipment in your rig (another thread...), it will be essential to have a true sine wave inverter, and I believe the Heart Freedom series is modified sine wave, so you will likely want to replace it with a 2+ KW true sine wave inverter/charger.  I got a Xantrex Prosine 2.0 (reconditioned) about 3 years ago, and have been quite happy with it, but I think there are better ones available.

IF you are really into the battery / inverter thing, you might consider remaking that battery mount, lowering it, and building it to hold additional 2 above the existing pair of MK's, with 4 MK's you sure  could go total electric, refrig etc.
Appears to be plenty space for such.
Just an idea from the peanut gallery.
 

IF you are really into the battery / inverter thing, you might consider remaking that battery mount, lowering it, and building it to hold additional 2 above the existing pair of MK's, with 4 MK's you sure  could go total electric, refrig etc.
Appears to be plenty space for such.
Just an idea from the peanut gallery.
 

That sounds like good advice... I have power conditioners on everything in the studio. I am researching the inverter question, especially since we have only a 1kw, but no rush since it will be a months yet before I make the full transition. I havle heard good things about the magnums. What was your source for the rebuilt Xantrex?
Don

The picture of the U270 bay looks very much like the bay in our U295. Ours has an additional drawer above that holds a third 8D AGM battery. Ours also has terminals and some measuring/control devices on the wall toward the rear of the coach. I don't think a fourth battery would fit without moving some stuff. However, a third battery would fit above the two existing batteries.

I have not measured side to side distribution of weight in our coach. You would probably want to check that to see what an additional battery might do to the distribution.

Again, I recommend performing only maintenance and safety renewals or changes on your coach before you begin using it. Find out what works for YOU. After you use the coach, you will be more prepared to make the changes most important for your pleasure and utility.

Yup, those sure look like gels to me. Pair of 8Ds - on slides no less.  Check the date codes to see how old they are - they look pretty new.

Agree about a pure sine wave inverter - I'm going with the Magnum PSW. Also a good idea - a surge protector downstream of the shore power/generator transfer switch. Never know the quality of the power you might get when plugged in who knows where. As a last resort, my rack gear is getting AC power through a Furman PL Plus Series II power filtering and suppression unit (it's already in my rack at home).

There are a number of choices with regards to inverters and surge protectors. If you do a search on this forum you'll find a number of threads on these subjects. As with most anything, it pays to do your research and shop around before laying down any money.

Steve

Don,
  I bought my Deka AGM batteries at a local battery depot (here in north Florida) for that price. The ones I replaced were identical and they were five years old.

Mark

Don,
  Mr Taylor ordered it special and he put the U285 Special on it as a joke to Mr Fore. It was his fourth Foretravel he bought and he wanted a U320 with light oak cabinets. The factory refused to build a 320 that way. So after going round and round they agreed to run a U270 back through the factory and install most of the U320 options on it. He had the stickers made up. Thats the scoop.

Regards, Mark

I've seen the 2KW Magnum PSW 2012 inverters selling for $1600 and change. Adding a gen start module and a battery monitor will automate, optimize, and maintain the batteries' state of charge on an ongoing basis.

DEKA gels can be had for about $600 or even less if you shop around. I ended up buying mine from an online solar company in Massachusetts, and was able to pick them up at a local depot myself.

With my U225, once the solar panels are added, am thinking of perhaps adding a third coach battery and moving the starting battery over to the driver's side in the engine area (in a sealed case). For batteries on slideouts, welding cables work well for interconnects, as the very fine strands allow for a lot of flexing.

Steve

I got our system (currently 400W - 4 panels) from AM Solar in Oregon ( Welcome to AM Solar_Your RV Solar Specialists since 1987 ).  Great company to deal with and the prices keep coming down.  I did all the installation myself, and the installation package that AM Solar sent was very high quality and complete.  I'll be adding another couple of panels at some point, since our controller is good for 600W, and I've about decided that we can afford the roof space even if we do eventually carry a couple of kayaks up there.

Don't know about the amorphous silicon panels, but they are less efficient per sq ft, and I certainly wouldn't want to walk on them very often...  Polycrystalline and monocrystalline panels are rated to withstand 1" hail at terminal velocity, so if you're in baseball-size hail country, you might want amorphous panels, but their longevity hasn't been as good as crystalline silicon panels.  (Might also need a new roof after a baseball-sized hail storm?).  All panels are more efficient when they're cooler, so that's an argument for brackets that hold the panels a little off the roof.

We have AM Solar's tilting brackets for our panels, and when we're staying put for a week or so, I do climb up and tilt them.  Makes a ~30% power difference in the winter, and takes about 10 minutes to put all our panels up or down.  Panels also run cooler when they're up, so more efficient.